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Austria’s struggle to present itself as a non-xenophobic country is set to continue as a poll revealed almost one in two Austrians think asylum seekers are "dishonest".

Viennese public opinion research agency Karmasin found that 49 per cent of Austrians consider asylum seekers as generally "dishonest" people. A majority of 53 per cent told pollsters they agreed with the claim that asylum seekers "are more criminal than other society groups", according to political weekly profil.

The magazine revealed that the Karmasin study also showed only one in four Austrians think asylum seekers "need protection", while a meagre 16 per cent said they were "willing to integrate".

Karmasin interviewed around 500 Austrians for their survey.

These findings come after 94.45 per cent of residents of the southern Burgenland districts of Jennersdorf, Güssing and Oberwart taking part in a referendum rejected plans to build an asylum seekers’ centre in the area.